Customs strike hits Channel Tunnel

STRIKING Customs officers disrupted rail and road services across France yesterday, beginning the day by chaining themselves to the main Paris to London railway line at the Channel Tunnel.

One train was halted for an hour as it arrived in France and disruption continued as officers strictly applied the letter of the law and searched every car arriving to take the motorail train to Britain.

Elsewhere airports, motorways and rail links were disrupted by the strikers, whose action won a promise from the finance ministry to negotiate over demands for increased pensions and danger pay.

At the Spanish border, about 100 Customs officers blocked the outpost at Perthus, on the A9 motorway south of Perpignan.

Several ferry ports serving routes to Britain and the Channel Islands were disrupted and one of the runways at Orly airport outside Paris was briefly occupied.

Fifty officers distributed leaflets at the tollbooth on the A8 at La Turbie, between Nice and Monaco. Officers from Nice, Cannes, Menton and at the Nice Cote d'Azur airport joined the industrial action by switching on their vehicle sirens for half an hour.

Traffic delays were caused by a slow-moving convoy on the A10 into Bordeaux. A trade union spokesman said passengers arriving at Bordeaux's Merignac airport could expect delays.